Wire clip forming and closing machine



Feb. 21, 1939. w A, so 2,147,976

WIRE CLIP FORMING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed April 14, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 21, 1939. w HARRISON 2,147,976

WIRE CLIP FORMING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed April 14, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 l Hil 86 1 I f; 4 & 5Q r38 U I c? 5 8 82 RE! 4 3Q 'BQ i 54\ l GD L i f: a I E) Feb. 21, 1939. w. A. HARRISON 2,147,976

WIRE CLIP FORMING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed April 14, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Feb. 21, 1939. w A. HARRISON 2,147,975

WIRE CLIP FORMING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed April 14, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 /IIIIl Feh zl, 1939. w so 2,147,976

WIRE CLIP FORMING AND CLOSING MACHINE Filed April 14, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 m M AB 59 i \4 Hg 9 '1 g Fig.8. W55

y 1 F199. 5a

Patented Feb. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES WIRE CLIP FORMING AND CLOSING mcnmn William Alexander Harrison, Liverpool, England Application April 14,

Claims.

The present invention relates to a machine for forming wire clips and for securely fastening the clip around two or'more elements, such as the adjacent spiral spring coils of a spring mat- 5 tress.

According to the present invention, open loops of wire, either preformed, or'formed in the machine, are passed down guides in a pair of jaws displaceable at an angle to one another in guides in the machine, whereupon the wire loop is forced down further into said jaws, so that its ends overlap whereupon they are clinched upon the two or more elements to be united, by means of a hammer plunger driven from a rotating crank or the like preferably through a spring coupling.

In a modified form of the invention, the spring coupling between the hammer plunger and the crank is retained by a stop at a point near the end of its downward travel, until towards the end of the stroke of the crank pin, when the spring energized coupling is released in order to obtain a sudden clinching of the wire loop by the hammer.

The invention is more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of construction, partly in section.

Figure 2 is a corresponding end view partly in section.

. Figure 3 is a view corresponding to-Figure 1 with the parts in a slightly different position.

Figure 4 is a rear side elevation of the machine.

Figure 5 is a plan view on the line 5,5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a plan view on the line 6, 6 of Figure 4.

Figure 7 is a detail view of the two jaws in their withdrawn position on an enlarged scale to the preceding figures.

Figure 8 is a section on the line 8, 8 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a section on the line 9, 9 of Figure '7.

Figure 10 is a section on the line l8, l8 of Figure '7.

Figure 11 is a detail of the driving mechanism.

A shaftl is driven from any source of power by means of a chain and sprocket drive 2, which sprocket 2 has three or more pins 3 one of which is adapted to engage with a pin 4 on a rotary sleeve 5, keyed at-G to the shaft l. Normally the pin 4 is withdrawn out of range of the continuously rotating pins 3 against a spring I by means of a lever 8, operated for instance by a 1938, Serial No. 202,113

solenoid 8a, but when the lever 8 is released, the pin 4 will be projected into range of one of the pins 3, and the sleeve 5 with the shaft I will be rotated usually for a single revolution.

The shaft 1 (Figure 4) has a cam 9 upon it engaging the tappet III of a. lever H connected to one end of a chain l2, the other end of which passes over a sprocket l3 and is connected through a spring I4 to a fixed pin l5 on the frame 92. The sprocket l3 has a free wheel connection with a feed wheel l7 (freely rotatable on shaft IS) in geared relationship with a second feed wheel l7 freely mounted within a bracket l9 pivoted at 28 to the frame and capable of pivoting about this pivot 28 against a spring 2|. Wire stock 22 can be fed through the feed wheels l7, I8 which as can be seen, will accommodate themselves to any diameter of stock. This wire 7 is fed through a guide bush 93 detachably mounted by means of bolts 23 to the frame (when it is desired to change the stock of greater or lesser diameter) the inclined edge of which 24 forms an element co-operating with a shear blade 25 carried by slide 26 moving in guides 21 on the machine, which slide has a tappet roller 28 maintained in contact with the cam 9 by means of a spring 29. The slide 26 is also provided with a U-shaped groove 38, which, moving down with the shear plate 25, bends the sheared piece of wire stock 220. into the form of a loop over the bar mandrel 3|. It will be noticed that the wire stock 22, 22a, is pushed over the mandrel 3| under a retainingbar 32, and against an adjustable stop 83, which sets the length of loop in conjunction with the adjustable stop 33a, acting on the bracket containing the bush 93, and it will also moreover, be noticed that the wire is cut obliquely to form sharpened ends of the subsequent staple.

As the loop staple is formed it is pushed along the mandrel 3| by means of a reciprocating slide 34 having a pin-and-slot connection with a pivoted arm 35, a tail projection 36 of which is engaged by a spring stop 37 on the slide member 38 having a tappet roller 39 engaging with a face cam 48 on the shaft l.

The shaft I also has a crank pin 4| engaging with a block 42 sliding in guides 43 in a block 44 sliding in vertical guides 45 in the machine, which block 44 has two holes 46 to receive spindies 47 carried upon a block 48, springs 49 being disposed between the block 48 and the block 44.

It will consequently be seen that as the shaft I rotates, the block 48 is reciprocated up and down. This block 48 carries a depending hammer plunger 88 adapted to engage the top of the staple and drive it down inclined grooves 58, in a pair of jaws 52, 58.

These jaws 52, 53 with their extensions or guiding means 52a, 53a, areadapted to slide in guides at an angle to one another in the main frame 82 of the machine and the said jaws have inclined surfaces 54, 55 upon them engaged by similar inclined surfaces 58, 58 at the ends of the wedging elements 88, 8| respectively, sliding in guides 45 on the frame of the machine.

These elements 88, 8| are secured at their upper ends to a bracket 82 (Figures 1 and 11), which also carries the tappet roller 38 engaging with the face cam 40 on the shaft I through the action of the springs 8|.

In the position of the parts as shown in Figure 1 it will be seen that the said cam face 40, has just forced the jaws 52, 53, from the open position shown in Figure 7 to the operative or closed position, when the stop surfaces 62, 63 (Figures 1 and 3) come into contact through the inclined surfaces 58, 50 of the wedging elements 88, 8| engaging the corresponding inclined surfaces 54, 55, of the jaws 52, 53.

This position will be maintained by the cam face 40 for approximately 180 movement.

Referring again to Figure 1 it will be seen that the crank pin 4| is at the top or starting position and this carries the block 44 together with the block 48 (indirectly through the compression spring 5|) with its depending hammer or driving element 88 downwardly into the position shown in Figure 3, whereupon the block 48 will normally be arrested by means of a pair of stops 8! on lever 68 pivoted at 68 and Hi to the cover plate 86. At this stage of the operation, the loop staple is partially closed round two or more elements 54, of for instance a pair of coiled mattress springs 85, 88 respectively, or any other element to be connected together by clinch staples. The block 48 in moving downwards will normally be arrested by means of a pair of stops 81 on lever 88 pivoted at 88 and 18 to the frame respectively, and normally held together by means of a tension spring 1| against fixed stops 88 on the cover plate 88. Further rotation of the crank pin 4| however, will cause the block 44 to descend further compressing the springs 48 and at a predetermined moment inclined stops 12 will engage inclined surfaces I8 on the ends of the levers 88 forcing these apart so that the element 48 with the hammer driving element 88 is suddenly released to drive down the loop staple and clinch its face most firmly around the element 64.

It will be seen from Figures 9 and 10, that the guides 58, 5| in the elements 52, 53 are slightly displaced from one another, so that the shanks of the loop pass down in planes slightly separated from one another and as can be seen in Figure 10, the element 34 can only feed one loop 22 into the accommodating groove 50, 5| of the elements 52, 58 at any one time.

The beveled surfaces 68 of the block 48 engage oppositely bevelled surfaces 85 of the wedging elements 88, 8| while the cover plate 88, Figures 2, 3, completes the guiding means for the various moving parts as hereinbefore described.

The tension springs 81 secured to the frame, Figures 1 and 3, and connected to the free ends of the jaw elements 52, 53 normally keep these open as shown in Figure 7. The wedging elements 88, 8| together with their terminating bracket 82, carrying the roller 38, are normally forced upwardly by spring 8|, so that the tappet roller 88 is kept in contact with the face of the cam 48.

Referring again to Figure 2 it will be seen that the bracket 82 has integral therewith a slide member 88 pivot previously described for the operation of the reciprocating slide 84.

The travel of the block 44 reciprocated by the crank pin 4| is always greater than the travel of the hammer plunger 88 so that the springs 49 are compressed to a predetermined amount'to act upon the hammer plunger and consequently upon the clinch staple to connect a pair of coiled mattress springs 85, 58. If however, this top convolution of one or more coiled springs to be united is doubled and/or where the gauge of the wire from which the springs are constructed, and also that of the clinching wire is slightly greater, then the springs 48 exert a slightly greater force upon the hammer plunger 88, without causing any undue stress upon the machine generally.

When wire stock of heavier or lighter gauge is required within certain limits, for the loop staple, this is readily accommodated by changing the bush bracket 83 and adjusting the spring 2|. The length of the stock 22a is adjusted withincertain desired limits by the adjustable steps 33, 33a, while the shear blade is adjusted accordingly by the use of shims. l

'The bracket 84, Figures 1, 2, 7, 10 receives one loop staple from the magazine 95 when the hammer plunger 88 has been withdrawn to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2, and serves as a guiding means for the plunger 88, and the guide grooves 58a and 5|a communicates with the guide grooves in the jaws 52, 53 when in the operative or closed position.

It may be desired to insert a spring element between the joints 8| separating the bracket 82, and the lugs 92 on the wedging elements 88, 8| to maintain the stop surfaces 82, 63 in contact ducing the operation of guiding and clinching the loop staple.

The end 88a of the hammer plunger 88 is shown with a spherical concave surface but in some cases it may be desired to employ a flat surface.

The method of operation is as follows:-

Assuming that it is required to link a pair of mattress coil springs 65, 68, by clinch staple, said springs are brought into a position located immediately below the jaw elements which are in the open position shown in Figure 7.

The solenoid 8a is actuated by a suitable elec trical means (not shown) whereby the lever 8 is released thus allowing the pin 4 to engage one of the pins 3.

Motion is thus imparted from the rotating sprocket 2 to the shaft rotating said shaft as long as the lever 8 is released. Since the cycle of making and clinching a staple occupies one revolution of the shaft I, the solenoid is adapted to release the lever 8 for a period of time equal to that taken to complete one revolution of the sprocket 2, if one staple is required at each joint. If, for instance, two staples were required at each joint then the lever 8 would have to remain released for enough time to complete two revolutions of the shaft l. v

Upon initiation of movement of the shaft the cams 8 and 40 begin to revolve together with the crank pin 4|.

The tappet III which is positioned above and rides against the cam 8 is raised by the cam and feeds an increment of stock through the feed wheels l8 (Fig. 4) by means of chain l2 which rotates sprocket l3 in tree wheel connection with teed wheel II.

This increment is fed through the guide bush 93.v

As the cam 9 rotates further it presses tappet roller 28 downwards thereby causing the increment of stock to be cut off by the shear blade 25 and then to be bent round mandrel 3| by the U-shaped groove 30 in the slide 26.

The reciprocating slide 34 which is driven by the cam 40 through tappet roller 39 and member 38, then displaces the U-shaped staple along the mandrel out of range of the slide 26.

A plurality of staples in this condition are located along this mandrel having been produced in previous revolutions of the machine. As one is pushed out of range of the slide all the staples are displaced by an amount equal to the thickness of the stock and the staple on the end of the mandrel drops into the grooves 50, 5|, or the Jaws 52, 53.

The crank pin is in such a position that on delivery into the grooves this staple is immediately driven along the jaws 52, 53 by the crank operated hammer plunger 89.

The tappet roller 39 actuated by the cam 4|! then causes the wedging elements 80, 8|, to descend and thereby force the jaws downwardly, together, at the same time clinching the staple around the coil springs to be linked.

The chain I2 is released, causing sprocket i3 to free-wheel, the hammer 89 is raised by further rotation, the jaws open, the slide and shear blade rise, the reciprocating slide retreats, and the solenoid withdraws the pin 4 from driving engagement with pins 3.

The linked springs 65, 66, are then. substituted by a new pair to be linked and the cycle repeated.

I declare that what I claim is:-

1. A wire clip clinching machine including a frame, a pair of jaws displaceable at an angle to one another less than a right angle, guide for said jaws, guide grooves for the wire loop forming the clip, a hammer plunger engaging the wire loop to displace it along the grooves in said jaws,'a rotating crank driving said hammer plunger and a spring coupling interposed between said rotating crank and said hammer plunger.

2. A wire clip clinching machine comprising a frame, a pair 01 displaceable jaws having grooves therein to guide the wire clip, guides for said jaws disposed at an angle less than a right angle, a hammer plunger adapted to displace a clip in grooves in said jaws, a rotating crank, a reciprocating block driven by said crank, compression springs disposed between said block and said hammer plunger, 9. stop on said hammer plunger, a pair of pivoted arms, stop means on said arms and means on said block adapted to displace said arms out of range of said stop at a predetermined point in the travel of said rotating crank.

3. A wire clip clinching machine comprising a frame, a pair of displaceable jaws having grooves therein to guide the wire clip, guides for said .jaws disposed at an angle less than a right angle,

a hammer plunger adapted to displace a clip in grooves in said jaws, a rotating crank, a reciprocating block, driven by said crank, compression springs disposed between said block and said hammer plunger, a stop on said hammer plunger, a pair of pivoted arms, stop means on said arms and means on said block adapted to displace said arms out of range of said stop at a predetermined point in the travel of said rotating crank, step by step means feeding wire stock, a hollow guldefor said wire stock having an inclined edge, a shear blade co-operating with said inclined edge, means to reciprocate said shear blade from said driving crank, a mandrel, means to bend the severed piece of wire stock over said mandrel, and means to feed a bent wire clip one at a time to the grooves of said jaws.

4. A wire clip clinching machine comprising a frame, a pair of displaceable jaws having grooves therein to guide the wire clip, guides for said jaws disposed at an angle less than a right angle, a hammer plunger adapted to displace a clip in grooves in said jaws, said grooves being displaced progressively in difiering planes, a rotating crank, a reciprocating block, driven by said crank, compression springs disposed between said block and said hammer plunger, a stop on said hammer plunger, a pair of pivoted arms, stop means on said arms and means on said block adapted to displace said arms out of range of said stop at a predetermined point in the travel of said rotating crank.

5. A wire clip clinching machine including a frame, a pair of jaws displaceable at an angle to one another less than a right angle, guides for said jaws having grooves for a wire loop forming a clip, a hammer plunger adapted to displace the wire clip along the grooves in said jaws, a rotating crank driving said hammer plunger, a spring coupling interposed between said rotating crank and said hammer plunger and a stop to arrest the hammer plunger against the springs of said coupling during part of the said crank and means to release the stop to give a sudden movement of the hammer plunger by reason of the release of the spring coupling.

WILLIAM ALEXANDER HARRISON. 

